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All images used in Regional Business News are for illustrative purposes only news&views Mapping from the air Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are getting a lot of attention in the Australian mining industry. They offer great time and money savings, with the ability to conduct aerial surveys quickly and efficiently despite cloud cover, strong winds and even rain. Propellerbased systems such as the Aibot X6 also enable detailed inspections of difficult-to-reach areas. The safety advantages are significant, as they remove the need for surveyors to walk around inside the pit, on hazardous terrain and near heavy machinery. Unlike manned aerial flyovers, they give the user greater control over what they map, when they map it and the accuracies achieved. But just how accurate are they? According to Position Partners, the simple answer is: as accurate as you need them to be! To achieve high accuracy (two centimetres) results, users need to increase the overlap of the images, therefore multiple flights may be required for high accuracy over large areas. For example, SIRIUS accuracy specifications are based on ground sampling distance (GSD), or the area represented by each pixel in a digital photo. The area covered and accuracy achieved during a single 40-minute flight ranges from 55 hectares at two centimetres GSD (with 75 to 85 per cent overlap of images) to 670 hectares at 10 centimetres GSD (with 10 per cent overlap of images). www.positionpartners.com.au deep-sea mining Supply and demand has always driven the commodities market. Yet, recently, declining non-renewable resources and increasing global energy consumption has skewed this simple equation, arousing interest in adaptive measures such as deep-sea mining. The process of deep-sea mining is still largely unexplored, however, the theory is relatively simple: extracting metal and mineral deposits that have been expelled from natural hydrothermal vents found in ridges along the sea floor. Not surprisingly, there is resistance in spades from conservationists, fisheries and coastal residents, not to mention obstacles such as lack of funding and mining technology, and dubious jurisdictions in international waters. In addition, many researchers feel that deepsea mining needs to be further investigated before we take the plunge. 44 Aurecon's John Mason pens chapter on gigaprojects Combining his passion for delivering successful project outcomes and his significant international experience, John Mason, Aurecon's programme and project delivery leader, has put pen to paper and authored a chapter in the American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) recently released book, Managing Gigaprojects: Advice from those who've been there, done that, released by Pegasus Global Holdings. The book deals with the world's biggest infrastructure construction projects – gigaprojects – with price tags higher than US$10 billion. These super-sized projects are critical to meeting the growing demands of the global population, yet they present daunting obstacles for effective planning, design, construction and delivery. Such projects can span long time frames, and risk management poses unprecedented problems of scale and complexity. John co-authored the chapter titled 'Delivery of UK Megaprojects within a European context' with Steve Rowsell, former head of procurement for Crossrail, a large railway project. Describing his experience, John said: "It has been a privilege to be able to contribute to this book alongside an impressive group of authors. Their insights are invaluable and the close alignment of the lessons they've learnt is tangible." John drew on his experience of major infrastructure projects in Europe, the USA, Australia and South-East Asia to discuss best practice principles, organisational considerations and new approaches to procurement and supply chain management in the UK.

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